diff --git a/deploy/helm/pargar/templates/secret-data.yaml b/deploy/helm/pargar/templates/secret-data.yaml
index 9a61258..2aaedd7 100644
--- a/deploy/helm/pargar/templates/secret-data.yaml
+++ b/deploy/helm/pargar/templates/secret-data.yaml
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@
 {{- else if and .Values.postgres.auth.password (not (hasPrefix "change-me" .Values.postgres.auth.password)) (ne .Values.postgres.auth.password "") }}
   {{- $pgPass = .Values.postgres.auth.password }}
 {{- else }}
-  {{- $pgPass = randAlphaNum 32 }}
+  {{- /* Fail loudly instead of silently minting a random password: under
+         Argo CD (helm template) `lookup` is always empty, and a random
+         value would diverge from the live service on every render. */}}
+  {{- fail "postgres.auth.password must be set: no existing pargar-postgres secret was found and .Values.postgres.auth.password is empty or a change-me placeholder" }}
 {{- end }}
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Secret
@@ -30,7 +33,7 @@ stringData:
 {{- else if and .Values.redis.auth.password (not (hasPrefix "change-me" .Values.redis.auth.password)) (ne .Values.redis.auth.password "") }}
   {{- $rdPass = .Values.redis.auth.password }}
 {{- else }}
-  {{- $rdPass = randAlphaNum 32 }}
+  {{- fail "redis.auth.password must be set: no existing pargar-redis secret was found and .Values.redis.auth.password is empty or a change-me placeholder" }}
 {{- end }}
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Secret
@@ -56,7 +59,7 @@ stringData:
 {{- else if and .Values.rustfs.auth.secretKey (not (hasPrefix "change-me" .Values.rustfs.auth.secretKey)) (ne .Values.rustfs.auth.secretKey "") }}
   {{- $secret = .Values.rustfs.auth.secretKey }}
 {{- else }}
-  {{- $secret = randAlphaNum 40 }}
+  {{- fail "rustfs.auth.secretKey must be set: no existing pargar-rustfs secret was found and .Values.rustfs.auth.secretKey is empty or a change-me placeholder" }}
 {{- end }}
 apiVersion: v1
 kind: Secret